


Would it really kill you if we kissed?

by zach_stone



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Climbing Class, Coming Out, First Kiss, It could be pre canon or an AU it's up to you!!, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 10:24:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5001124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zach_stone/pseuds/zach_stone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Experimentally, Chris lifts the handful of soap to his nose again, and the butterflies return full force. What the hell? Why is he getting butterflies about Josh?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Would it really kill you if we kissed?

**Author's Note:**

> It was only a matter of time before I wrote a Climbing Class fic, let's be honest. Also, this is my second fic where Chris gets flustered while in the shower; what does that say about me?

Chris is dying. Or at least, that’s what it feels like. Breathing hard through his mouth, he slows his running to a stop, holding up one hand while the other clutches his chest. “Hang on,” he pants. “I gotta stop or I’m gonna die.”

“Come on, Chris, we’re almost there,” Sam says, jogging back over to him and standing with her hands on her hips. She doesn’t even sound that out of breath, and Chris scowls at her.

“I don’t like you,” he tells her. She smirks.

“This is good for you! Don’t you feel so energized right now?”

Is she kidding? Chris feels like he could lay down on the sidewalk right now and pass out. Still, the longer he waits, the more Josh, Hannah, and Beth are going to tease him when he and Sam finally get to the Washington house. He takes a couple more breaths and then nods to Sam, who immediately starts sprinting again. He trails behind, a rush of gratitude washing over him when he sees his best friend’s house up ahead.

Sam’s house isn’t too far from the Washingtons, so sometimes instead of driving she just runs over there. It’s a good workout, and she’d somehow convinced Chris to start joining her once a week when they get together for movie night. It hadn’t sounded too bad when Sam had described it, but then again, Sam is way more in shape than Chris. Which is definitely starting to become obvious.

They make it to the front door, and Sam knocks. Josh opens the door, a smile on his face when he sees them. “Hey, guys!” he says. He looks past Sam at Chris, who is hunched over with his hands on his thighs, panting and soaked in sweat. “Damn, Chris, you alright?”

He gives Josh a thumbs up, still bent over. Josh raises his eyebrows and looks to Sam, who shrugs.

“Got any good snacks? I’m starved,” she says, walking past him into the house. He nods, pointing in the direction of the kitchen.

“Yeah, Beth made those vegan cookies you like,” he tells her.

“That’s my girl!” Sam says, beaming. She walks off, and Josh turns to Chris.

“You gonna come in? Or are you just going to collapse on my porch?”

“Gimme… a second…” Chris huffs. “Why did I agree to do this stupid running thing again?”

“Wasn’t it because Ashley said something about how hot Matt looked when he was jogging around the track during practice?” Josh says with a devilish grin. Chris looks up, squinting at his friend.

“Whatever, man,” he says. “Laugh all you want, but I’ll be the one laughing when I’m all buff and sexy.”

“Yeah, if you don’t die of an asthma attack first,” Josh snorts. “Seriously, bro, you sound like you only have one functioning lung.”

“Ha-ha,” Chris says sarcastically, straightening. “I’m fine, I just need some water.” Josh steps back to let him in, and wrinkles his nose when Chris passes.

“Ugh, dude, you reek,” he says. “Please use my shower, I’ll get you a change of clothes.”

“What? That’s just the manly scent of exercise,” Chris says. Josh shakes his head.

“Like hell it is. I’m not letting you stink up the movie room, Cochise. Get your ass upstairs and shower.”

Chris relents, mostly because the thought of a hot shower does sound pretty nice right now. And because, yeah, okay, he does kind of stink. He follows Josh upstairs, and waits while his friend grabs him a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. Then he goes into the bathroom and closes the door. The water feels great after a run, the heat soothing his muscles and washing away the sweat that had left embarrassingly big pit stains on his other shirt.

He grabs Josh’s body wash and squeezes some into his hand. He’s immediately struck with the smell of Josh -- it’s this tea tree oil “stress relief” aromatherapy stuff. When the scent hits him, Chris gets a warm fluttery feeling in his stomach. He pauses, frowning. That feeling, it’s the same one he got that day when Ashley had fallen asleep on his bed while they were studying, and later that night his pillow had smelled like her strawberry shampoo. Experimentally, Chris lifts the handful of soap to his nose again, and the butterflies return full force. What the hell? Why is he getting butterflies about _Josh_?

A rapping on the bathroom door startles him. “Dude, come on, we wanna start the movie!” Josh says.

“Just a sec, I’ll be right out!” Chris says quickly. Somewhat panicked, he rinses the body wash off his hand and grabs Hannah’s instead. It’s some flowery “summer breeze” shit, but he doesn’t really care. Anything to stop that weird feeling in his gut.

Once he’s toweled off and wearing the clothes Josh gave him, Chris makes his way back downstairs into the movie room. It’s a big room, with several large couches and a huge projector screen that takes up a whole wall. Sam and Beth are snuggled together on one of the couches, Beth’s arm draped over Sam’s shoulders, with Hannah next to them. Josh sits on the couch behind them, patting the space next to him when Chris enters.

“At last! Take a seat, bro, let’s get this show on the road,” Josh says. Chris sits down next to him, and Josh sniffs the air. “You’re smelling much better. Hang on -- did you use my sister’s soap?”

Chris hopes his face isn’t turning pink. “I dunno, I wasn’t paying attention,” he says. “Can’t a guy smell like daisies in peace?”

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Josh says. “Beats that B.O. from before. I would’ve had to make you sit in the hallway.”

“Can we start the movie already?” Sam says. “I wanna see if this is really as scary as Beth keeps telling me it is.”

“Oh, it is,” Beth says. “You might need me to hold your hand, Sammy.”

Sam snorts. “I’m already holding your hand.”

“Hey, you’re gonna need to hold my hand too,” Hannah says. She hates scary movies, which is unfortunate considering they’re her father’s specialty. “I realize girlfriend takes priority over best friend, but still.”

“I’ve got plenty of hands to go around,” Sam says with a giggle. She looks behind her. “You boys want to hold onto my foot or something?”

“We’re fine, thanks,” Chris says, as Josh chuckles.

“Okay! Enough chitter chatter,” Josh says. “Ladies and gentleman, prepare yourself for a tour de force of horror and scares, the latest and greatest from the one and only Bob Washington.” He does an eerily accurate imitation of his father’s deep, booming voice. Josh presses the button on the app on his phone that connects to the projector, and the movie begins. Chris settles into the couch, slumping a little and tucking his feet under him. Josh is sitting with his legs apart, one elbow on the arm of the couch as he rests his chin on his fist. Chris’s foot presses against Josh’s thigh. It’s not like he’s not used to closeness when it comes to Josh -- they watch movies together all the time in here, and when they’re both sitting on the same couch it’s pretty much impossible to avoid limbs touching. But for some reason he’s now hyper-aware of the way they’re touching, and he keeps thinking of the smell of Josh’s soap in the shower and the way his insides felt all twisty and weird. He flicks his eyes away from the screen to look at the other boy’s face, but Josh doesn’t seem to be feeling any of the weird energy Chris is. He’s just watching the movie with the same careful artist’s eye that he always watches movies with. Chris looks away, his face warm.

The movie _is_ scary, in typical Bob Washington fashion. Hannah spends most of the screening with her face hidden behind her hands or in Sam’s shoulder, and Chris, Sam, and Beth do a lot of shrieking. Even Josh lets out a little yelp of surprise towards the end. When it’s over, they all whoop and clap.

“That was _awesome_ ,” Sam says, standing up and stretching. “Your dad is a genius.”

“Yeah,” Josh says, almost reverently. “His best yet, right?”

"Definitely nightmare fuel," Chris says.

“That part with the sawblade was so _gross_ ,” Hannah says, shuddering.

“Well you know how dad loves his gore shots,” Beth says. She leans against Sam. “Hey, you’re staying over tonight, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sam says. “Chris, I forgot to tell you.”

Normally, Chris and Sam will run (or in Chris’s case, jog and whine) back to Sam’s house and she drives him home. “It’s cool. Josh, can I bum a ride off you?”

“Yeah, no problem, man,” Josh says. The five of them leave the movie room and spend another hour or two in the kitchen, devouring the entire plate of vegan cookies Beth made and joking around, teasing each other and at one point having a mini food fight before they decided not to waste cookies. Eventually, Beth and Sam are getting really touchy-feely, giggling and kissing a lot, and Hannah gives them a fond look before saying she’s going to bed. Josh slaps Chris on the back.

“Time to take you home, I think,” he says. “Give these two a little privacy.”

“Bye, Chris,” Beth says distractedly.

“Have fun, you crazy kids,” Chris says, smirking when Sam flips him off. He and Josh trudge outside and get into Josh’s car. They drive in comfortable silence for a while, and then Chris finds himself saying, “Hey, Josh?”

“Mm?” Josh says, not looking away from the road.

“You ever, like, get a really strong, really _good_ feeling about a friend?” he fumbles. Josh glances at him for a moment before looking back out the window, turning onto Chris’s street.

“I’m gonna need a little more than that,” he says. Chris swallows. Damn it, why’d he even bring this up? He’s not even really sure what he means.

“Okay. Uh, like, you now, a strong affectionate feeling.” He fiddles with the hem of his shirt before remembering it’s _Josh’s_ shirt and letting go as if it’s burned him.

Josh pulls into Chris’s driveway and parks the car, turning to look at his friend. “Is this about Ashley?”

“What? No,” Chris says.

“Oh.” Josh looks genuinely surprised. “Well, it sounds like what you’re describing is a crush, bro.”

A crush? No, no, no. That can’t be right. This is about Josh! Unless… _is_ it a crush? The car suddenly feels very stuffy. Chris shakes his head slowly. “No, that’s not what I mean. I don’t think, anyway.”

Josh tilts his head to the side. “Chris, who is this about?”

Chris looks away. “I’d uh, rather not say.”

Josh reaches over and lightly punches his arm. “C’mon, bro, you can tell me anything. I’m your best friend.”

_And that’s exactly why I can’t tell you_ , Chris thinks. “I don’t know…”

“Christopher. Man. Quit avoiding eye contact.” Chris forces himself to look at Josh, whose expression is open and warm. “No judgement. Explain this feeling to me more, at least.”

He sighs. “You know when something reminds you of a person, and it makes you feel all, you know, squiggly inside.” He gestures to his stomach. “Like when you smell a certain smell or whatever.”

Josh’s brow furrows. “Wait, you don’t have a crush on Hannah, do you? Is that why you used her soap today?”

Chris’s eyes widen. “Oh my God, no! No way. I mean, I love Hannah, but she’s like my sister.”

“Then what are you--”

“It’s you, okay?” Chris blurts out. Josh’s expression shifts from confusion to surprise in a matter of seconds. He’s staring at Chris, mouth slightly agape. Chris, on the other hand, is looking anywhere but at Josh. He knows his face is tomato red, and he wants nothing more than to melt into the floor. He unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the car door. “I should go,” he mumbles, but Josh’s hand shoots out and catches his wrist, stopping him. Chris sits back in his seat and looks at Josh nervously.

“You have a crush on me?” Josh says, something like wonder in his voice. He doesn’t sound disgusted or mocking yet, so Chris stays.

“I don’t know,” he says. “Just, earlier, when I was in the shower, I went to use your body wash and it smelled like how you always smell and I got that feeling, like I was telling you about. That’s why I used Hannah’s soap instead.”

“Huh.” Josh still has his hand on Chris’s wrist, and his thumb brushes over Chris’s pulse point. Chris feels his throat go dry, and he’s sure Josh can feel how fast his heart is beating right now.

“I’m sorry,” Chris says after a moment. “I know we’re best friends, and it’s totally weird, and I’ve never even liked a guy before, I’m really confused… I understand if you’re upset.”

“Chris?” Josh says, cutting off his friend’s babbling. “Look at me.” Chris looks up, and Josh is significantly closer than he had been, leaning over the gearshift. Chris can’t help the way his eyes flicker to Josh’s lips, and damn it, what is _wrong_ with him? But then Josh’s breath is against his mouth, and his lips part of their own accord when Josh closes the space between them, kissing him. It starts out gentle, fairly chaste, but then Josh’s hand goes up to thread in Chris’s hair, and Chris lets out an involuntary squeaky sound that’s _really_ embarrassing. Josh’s teeth graze Chris’s bottom lip, and the kiss gets messier, Chris becoming a more active participant. They pull apart with a wet smacking sound, both a bit breathless. Josh is grinning wickedly, and Chris looks totally baffled, his glasses slightly askew and his hair mussed up in the back from Josh’s fingers.

“I’m not mad,” Josh says. Chris huffs out a laugh.

“Yeah, I kind of picked up on that,” he says. His mind is reeling. Did that just happen? Did Josh really kiss him? And did he really kiss Josh back? What’s even more crazy to Chris is how much he enjoyed it. And how much he already wants to do it again.

“So you like me,” Josh says, and it’s not a question this time.

“Apparently,” Chris says. “I’m, uh, I’m really confused now, though. I mean, does this mean I’m gay? What about Ashley? I still like her, too.”

“Chris, there’s so much more than just straight and gay,” Josh says. “I mean, I was waiting for the right time to tell you this, but I guess there’s no use waiting any longer -- I’m bisexual. Maybe you are, too. It’s no big deal if you don’t know right now.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Chris says. “Hang on. You’re bi? Does that mean you like me?”

“I kissed you, didn’t I?” Josh says.

“I thought you were like, testing me,” Chris says, sheepish. Josh rolls his eyes.

“No, you nimrod,” he says. “I like you. I have for a while, actually.”

“What? How long?”

Now Josh looks embarrassed. “Like, a couple years. It’s whatever.”

“It is not _whatever_! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t think you liked me back! You’ve been mooning over Ashley for like ever, so I just let it be.” Josh shakes his head. “I didn’t expect _this_.”

“That makes two of us,” Chris says. He sighs. “So what now?”

“What do you mean?” Josh says.

“Like, what are we gonna do about this?” Chris says. “I mean, you’re my best friend. I don’t wanna make things weird.”

“Me neither,” Josh says quickly.

“So…” Chris exhales slowly. “Maybe I should just go inside, and we can both think about this and talk more tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that’s smart,” Josh says, looking a little disappointed. Chris makes to get out of the car, but then he stops, turning back to look at Josh.

“Or,” he says, and Josh cocks his head, curious. “We could kiss some more.”

“Oh, thank God,” Josh says, and then he grabs Chris by the shirt collar and pulls him in for a kiss. It’s a lot of teeth clacking this time, and they both laugh a little as they adjust.

“I think you ripped my shirt,” Chris says against Josh’s mouth.

“Don’t care, it’s mine anyway,” he replies, mouthing down Chris’s jaw. Chris lets out a shuddery breath, and when Josh latches onto a spot by his ear he feels like he’s going to explode. It’s actually all starting to be a bit much, considering how new his feelings are and how confused he still is by this, so he gently puts his hands on Josh’s shoulders and pushes. Josh stops instantly, looking into Chris’s eyes with concern.

“You okay?” he says. Chris nods, feeling shaky.

“Yeah, yeah, I just… it’s a lot. To take in.” He keeps his hands on Josh’s shoulders, holding the other boy away from him, but still close enough that he can smell that damn body wash. “Sorry. I just need a minute.”

“It’s fine, bro.” Josh gently moves Chris’s hands off him and sits back in his seat. “We can stop.”

“I’m sorry,” Chris says.

“Don’t be,” Josh says. “I get it. You’ve got a lot of self discovery ahead of you, Cochise. I’m just glad I could be of service.” He winks, and Chris laughs despite himself.

“Is this gonna change anything between us?” he asks. “Like, it’s not gonna be awkward now, right?”

“I don’t think so,” Josh says. “It was just kissing. No biggie.”

“I like kissing you,” Chris says, blushing. Josh smiles.

“Me too,” he says. “We could do it again sometime, if you’re up for it.”

“Yes,” Chris says immediately. He can’t help but laugh at himself for how eager he sounds. Josh is laughing too.

“You should go to bed, dude,” Josh says. “I gotta get back home.”

“Yeah, okay,” Chris says reluctantly. “Uh, thanks for this.”

“Oh no, Christopher, thank _you_ ,” he says, eyes twinkling. Chris leans over and kisses him one more time, just a quick one, but the smug look on Josh’s face is replaced with a fond sort of surprise. Much better.

“Goodnight, Josh,” Chris says, getting out of the car.

“Sweet dreams,” Josh says, saluting him before pulling out of the driveway. Chris watches him drive off, then touches his fingers to his lips, still feeling the tingle of their kisses. He smiles to himself and heads into the house.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you have any fic requests or ideas, please send them my way! My tumblr is joshuawashinton and I would be happy to talk UD and take suggestions.


End file.
